Kona II: Brume

I literally never write reviews for games, but I noticed how few people have really even played this game, I figured might as well write a quick review.
First off, I love Kona! The first game literally became one of my favorite games in High School and I remember playing it to completion over the course of a month. Recently I discovered that they had made a Kona 2 and because I enjoyed the first one so much I bought this game without hesitation and let me tell you, this game is worth it! The sounds, the environment, the mechanics, and the puzzles are all so well thought out! A lot of people call this a "walking simulator" but I might have to disagree! There is so much for you to do in this game and there are so many amazing mechanics that piece the story of Kona 2 Brume together, I give this game a 10/10 and I would highly recommend to anyone and everyone! (of course, you should probably play the first game before you play this one -then more of this second game will make sense!)

My main criticism of the first game was the supernatural far-fetched sub plot that was only loosely tied to the main story. In my opinion it should have been cut altogether as it weakens the already mediocre plot. Sadly Kona Brume pulls this story in the foreground and sprinkles in some "big corporation is evil" narrative.
The game generally changed its style somewhat. It reminded me of the Resident Evil games a bit. Gameplay wise as well as in regards to the story. This isn't a bad decision, but unexpected considering the previous Kona entry. The game even added herbs lol.
This inspiration can be seen in the design of Hamilton's Mansion and the HMC Laboratory. Especially the laboratory is designed fantastically gameplay wise. The mansion could have used more puzzles and secret doors as you can unlock 90 percent of the mansion in 5 minutes. This would have also given the player more of a reason to return to already explored areas.
My biggest gripe is the difficulty. Even on the hardest difficulty the game is laughably easy. Ammunition should be a rare resource and create pressure to make every shot count. Instead you save ammunition for a big expected boss fight that doesn't even require any bullets as you get a gun with unlimited ammo, which is just disappointing. The game should have thrown a lot more enemies at the player. Especially in the boss fight in a last stand kinda way.
The already very light survival aspects of the first game have been trimmed down even more. The mental stat was completely deleted and the heat stat sinks so slowly that finding heat sources is negligible. Before you had to make sure you had enough resources with you to always start a fire, but now you can always start it. The infinite inventory with a pretty bland HUD does the rest.

Kona II is a nice follow-up to the first game, with a lot of odd changes. You will enjoy seeing the conclusion to the story, but many of the things that made the original Kona so nice are missing. The survival aspect is gone and you will rarely need to worry about the cold--while such worry was a highlight of the first game. Kona II also has one of the most bizarre pacing decisions that I've seen, locking you inside of a big mansion for the first section of the game and making you wonder if you'll spend the whole experience in there--you won't. There is a lot less interactivity with interiors, as well, not letting you rummage through every drawer and cupboard, like before. And there are a lot of little things that make you wonder what the QA team was doing. Example: at one point I was underwater, running out of health, and the narration started talking about my leaving a blood trail in the snow.. weird little things like that.
But what Kona II DOES still have going for it is the wonderful atmosphere. You are once again immersed in rural 1970s Canada, in what is essentially now a walking simulator. This walking simulator has far more interactivity than most, but it's definitely not a semi-action game like the trailer might portray. If you like the setting and--very importantly--have played the first game, give it a go! You will enjoy yourself.
Steam Deck OLED users: The game runs well at 30fps with Ultra settings, providing that you turn the "Render Scale" in-game FSR all the way down.

I played Kona II: Brume shortly after finishing Kona, but I prefer the first game. In Brume, you step into Carl Faubert's shoes again and uncover the source of the mysterious storm (the Brume). Brume does have similar elements to Kona where you have to worry about Carl's health and warmth, but you do not have to carry around wood and fire starters with you as wood is always near the fireplace. Also, Brume eliminated the stress bar, which I think is fine. In Kona, you have access to Carl's truck from the start of the game and then you can find and fix a snowmobile. However, in Brume, you are on foot for about the first third of the game and later you can find dogs for sledding. I did like meeting the survivors in Brume, but what makes me not like Brume as much as Kona is that I felt like Brume made playing more of a chore. In Brume, you have a lot of collecting to do to progress in the story like finding stones not once but twice and there is also a lot of going back and forth between areas. With all that said, if you did play Kona, Kona II: Brume can be worth checking out.

This game is legitimately the reason why Steam needs a middle ground between the thumbs up and thumbs down more then any game i have ever played/ Let me start out by saying i am a huge fan of the original Kona- so much so that i bought it thrice; one on switch, one on Steam, and on PS. And i wholly believe the first game is overall better as it had its own identity. This one felt like the devs wanted to make a game that was more mainstream and more akin to something like RE7 with more exploration/ Does that mean i think this game is bad? No, far from it, but i felt like i was more in a monster movie then a supernatural detective movie. Also- the entire lab stage has mechanics that literally fight against each other such as the whole section E battery thing- which made that level feel more tedious and VERY RE/ which is not Kona. Now, that being said- the story kept me playing all the way to the end- though there are times i wished Carl was not the silent protag, i got over it pretty fast/ One complaint (besides the entire underground lab level which felt like padding) is that the other characters felt like an afterthought and once done with their mini quest served no purpose, the dogs on the sled were better characters then all of the side characters combined- bc they, at least, had personality. A couple more things- the ending chapter of the game was very outlast and then the game just kind of ends. No aftermath, nothing. No overall explanation. That being said. Also on my 3070 black, i did get some skitches now and then and some bad frame pacing, but it wasnt to bad.
This game is a tentative recommendation for me, and i hope we get a Kona 3. which could have a better amalgmation of the ideas that worked here and the OG.
Overall rating: 6.8

Definitely worth your time and money. (especially now when it is on sale!)
Both the story and the graphics are superb.
I was already a fan of Kona 1 but as far as I'm concerned they have put down another very nice exciting title here.
8.8/10

Less detecting than the first game, but its far more polished. Better story, carrying on from KONA so play that first. 8/10